New Study Shows Airport Car Rental Experience Getting Better

 More travelers are more satisfied with their car rental experience at the airport, according to a recently released study from J.D. Power. The 2023 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study examined how travelers felt about their car rental experiences in recent months and found travelers are much happier than they were in 2022 due to factors such as stable pricing, increased vehicle availability and improved staffing.

“The post-pandemic period has been tough for North American rental car companies and their customers, but now that things have stabilized, customer satisfaction has started to increase significantly,” said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail, J.D. Power.

J.D. Power not only looked at how satisfied travelers said they were when renting cars at the airport, but also looked at which rental car companies managed to make travelers more satisfied. It found Enterprise ranked highest in customer satisfaction — a top spot the brand has claimed since 2021 — with National and Alamo following behind.

However, while satisfaction is up, J.D. Power cautioned travelers to not be too optimistic regarding their rental car experience during upcoming trips.

“Given the tight correlation we see between vehicle availability, price and customer satisfaction, it’s going to be important to keep an eye on the UAW strike as a potential supply chain issue that could negatively affect customer satisfaction during the course of the next year,” said Taylor.